A Delta flight attendant allegedly questioned whether a black woman was a doctor

A Delta Air Lines flight attendant on Sunday allegedly questioned
a black doctor about whether she was actually a medical
professional when a passenger fell ill on a domestic flight.

Tamika Cross, a gynecologist from Houston, was on a Delta flight
from Detroit to Houston when a passenger two rows in front of her
started "screaming for help," Cross wrote in a Facebook
note that has now been shared thousands of times.

Cross said a flight attendant called for a physician on
board to help, but when Cross raised her hand to assist the
passenger's husband, who was unresponsive at the time, the flight
attendant told her, "Oh no sweetie put ur (sic) hand down, we are
looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical
personnel, we don't have time to talk to you."

Another flight attendant called overhead for a doctor
onboard, Cross said. Cross said that when she signaled again that
she was a doctor and made eye contact with the flight attendant,
the woman responded, "oh wow you're an actual
physician?"

The attendant then asked Cross to produce her
"credentials," Cross said. According to Cross' LinkedIn page, she
obtained an M.D. from Meharry Medical College in 2013, and now
works as a resident physician at the University of Texas Health
Center in Houston.

Cross said the flight attendant further questioned her about
what type of doctor she was and what she was doing in Detroit.

Another passenger, also a doctor, started attending to the sick
passenger, who was now feeling better and responding to
questions. The flight attendant and the other doctor consulted
Cross on how to best care for the passenger.

While Cross says that the flight attendant apologized to
her "several times," and offered her Sky Miles, Cross
"kindly refused," Cross said on Facebook.

"I don't want skymiles in exchange for blatant
discrimination," Cross said. "Whether this was race, age, gender
discrimination, it's not right. She will not get away with
this....and I will still get my skymiles...."

A representative at Delta told
NBC
News that the company is "in the process of conducting
a full investigation" into the incident. The representative added
that three medical professionals offered help on the flight, but
only one provided credentials. The doctor who provided
credentials was the one who was asked to assist the ailing
passenger.

"We are troubled by any accusations of discrimination and
take them very seriously. The experience Dr. Cross has described
is not reflective of Delta's culture or of the values our
employees live out every day," Delta said in a statement, NBC
reported.